Saturday, March 30, 2013

The plan for the day was to hike somewhere along the way back to Sacramento. Searching the internet, I ended up recommending Uvas Canyon. This is Santa Clara County park is off of highway 101 near Morgan Hill on the eastern side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The park has several small waterfalls.

After having breakfast at the hotel, we packed up the room and headed north. We stopped and brought sandwiches in Gilroy.

We ended up hiking 4.4 miles over the course of 3 hours. The hike included a 1,000 climb in the first mile. We stopped at Black Rock Falls and Basin Falls, climbed Knobcone Point and then had lunch at the base of Upper Falls. After lunch, we continued up Swanson Creek and returned to the parking lot by the Contour Trail. I will post some maps and Google Earth views in the near future.

Back at the car about 2:00 pm, we were back in Sacramento a little after 5:00 pm.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Up early, Sharon, Jack and I headed to Carmel. I always forget how long it takes to get there; it took us just about 3 1/2 hours. Morgan has been spending the week with her mother in the Carmel Valley. We picked her up about 11:30 am and headed into Carmel. We had a nice lunch at La Bicyclette.

Much to Jack's chagrin, the plan was to spend the night in Carmel. We checked into the Wayfarer Inn just a couple of blocks off Ocean Avenue. Sharon and I wandered around the downtown and then had a drink at Grasing's where Sharon had made reservations before heading back to the room to get cleaned up for dinner.

The three of us finished the night with a very nice dinner at Grasing's. I had Grasing’s “Paella”, while Sharon had the Abalone. We shared a bottle of Mary Edwards 2009 Klopp Ranch Pinot Noir.

Mission San Carlos was established by Father Serra on June 3, 1770 at the Presidio of Monterey. Finding this location unsuitable, Serra moved the mission to Carmel Valley. In July 1771 he set to work constructing temporary buildings at the new site, and in December 1771 the mission was moved to its permanent location.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

On Day 52, I rode 18.1 miles across Wyoming. Starting near the La Bonte Pony Express Station [N42 36 19.0 W105 22 47.0] on the Emigrant Trail, I rode east to North Elkhorn Creek Road. I stopped near the Elk Horn Pony Express Station.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

During the summer of 2012, a secret meeting took place among the 12 members of the 1972 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team. Reuniting more than four decades after the controversial gold-medal game in which they lost to the Soviet Union and then declined to accept the silver medal, the team members met in Lexington, Kentucky, to make a final decision: to accept, or forever refuse, the medals for a game many of them believe they never lost. And, like with the jury in 12 Angry Men, the verdict needed to be unanimous.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

I watched Survive and Advance. This is the seventh installment of ESPN's 30 for 30 Vol II. An episode guide for Vol II is here.

In 1983, the North Carolina State Wolfpack, coached by Jim Valvano, stayed alive in the postseason by winning nine do-or-die games in a row, seven of which they were losing in the final minute. The team beat Michael Jordan and three-time National Player of the Year Ralph Sampson. The unlikely squad made it to the national championship game against No. 1 Houston, aka Phi Slama Jama, a team featuring future NBA Top 50 all-time players Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. NC State was one of the biggest underdogs ever in the final game. The game is possibly the best college basketball game in history. It ends with one of the best known college basketball plays of all time.

Woven through the story of Wolfpack's march through the ACC and NCAA tournaments are two other stories. First, The team got together in 2011 to mourn the death of one of their teammates. There is footage sprinkled throughout the film of the group talking about the games, their coach and each other.

Second, Jim Valvano's story, including his battle with cancer, is a key part of the film. There are some very compelling segments, including Valvano's speech at the Espys. Valvano was a very good speaker and storyteller.

I am not a college basketball fan. While I knew some of Jim Valvano's story and have seen the last play of the championship game, the story of the NC State's run through the tournament is not one that I remember. Of the more than forty-five 30 for 30 documentaries that I have seen so far, Survive and Advance is clearly in the ten top. It is a very good film.

The Pelton Water Wheel, first commercially manufactured here at George Allan's Foundry and Machine Works in 1879, was a major advancement in water power utilization and greatly advanced hard-rock mining. Its unique feature was a series of paired buckets, shaped like bowls of spoons and separated by a splitter, that divided the incoming water jets into two parts. By the late 1800s, the Pelton Wheels were providing energy to operate industrial machinery throughout the world. In 1888, Lester Pelton moved his business to San Francisco, but granted continuing manufacturing rights to Allan's Foundry, where the wheels were manufactured into the early 1900s.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

On Day 51, I rode 14.2 miles across Wyoming. Starting at the corner of Old Yellowstone Highway and North 4th Street in Douglas, I rode south out of town to Highway 94 (Esterbrook Road). I traveled south about 7.5 miles on the highway and then exited on the Emigrant Trail. I stopped near the La Bonte Pony Express Station [N42 36 19.0 W105 22 47.0].

Friday, March 22, 2013

Making up the first rain out of the year from Wednesday afternoon, the Jesuit Frosh Marauder baseball team played the Vista Del Lago Eagles. This is the first league game.

Jack started in left field and batted second.

At the plate, Jack was 0 for 3. He reached on an error and scored a run. In his first at-bat, Jack struck out swinging on a 1 and 2 pitch. He grounded the first pitch to the right side in his second plate appearance. The second baseman didn't handle the ball cleanly. With Jack motoring up the line, the second baseman threw the ball in the dirt and Jack was safe at first. He went to second on the throw, to third on Jared's walk and came home on Alex's walk. In his third at-bat, protecting the plate with a 1 and 2 count, Jack hit a towering fly ball into right center for an out.

In the field, Jack played four innings in left field. He had three put-outs on fly balls. Moving to deep left center to track down one of the fly balls, Jack tried to make the transfer from his glove too quickly to hold a runner at second and juggled the ball. You could everyone in the stands gasp... Jack also tracked down a line drive hit down the third base line.

In a surprise to me, there is a 10 run rule. The Marauders ended up beating the Eagles by the score of 16 to 6 in sixth innings. The Eagles were unable to get anyone out in the bottom of the sixth. I was frankly surprised at the poor quality of the Eagles pitching; I expect better pitching at the high school level. The box score is here and the score card is here.

At the plate, Jack was 0 for 2 with two walks and a run scored. In his first at-bat leading off the game, Jack hit the first pitch for a fly ball right at the centerfielder for an out. Jack grounded a 1 and 2 pitch to the right side and was thrown out at first in his second plate appearance. In his third at-bat in the top of the fifth inning and Jesuit leading by the score of 1 to 0, Jack walked on four pitches. He stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored the second run of the game on a wild pitch. Jack walked on five pitches in his fourth plate appearance, but ended the inning there when Bailey grounded out to the second baseman.

In the field, Jack played seven innings in centerfield. He had one put-out. Jack made a nice catch on a sinking line drive to left center.

The Davis pitcher did a nice job of keeping the Jesuit batters off balance. Through five innings, Jesuit was leading by the score of 2 to 0 with only one hit. I will talk more about the Davis pitching at the end of the post. By the sixth inning, the Davis starting pitcher had thrown 101 pitches. He was visibly tiring. The two Davis relief pitchers were clearly not as strong. They opened the door for a couple more runs and Jesuit won by the score of 6 to 0. The box score is here and the scorecard is here.

The winning pitcher was Chiappe [3-0, ERA 1.75, 3 starts, 20 innings]. Remarkably, Chiappe only threw 69 pitches in a seven inning complete game; this is his second complete game in three starts. He only threw 15 balls! His first pitch strike percentage was 77%.

The Jesuit Frosh baseball team now has 7 wins and 3 losses. The game log is here. The Marauders will make up a rain out against Vista Del Largo on Friday night, March 22.

Unlike the St. Mary's pitcher on Tuesday night, the starting Davis pitcher tonight did a really good job mixing up speeds and location. He had the boys off balance...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

In my short write-up about Mr. Russell's House, I noted that I was amazed at the media empire that Bill Simmons is building. Sports Illustrated has ranked Simmons as the most powerful figure in the sports media today!

He leveraged his immense popularity as a writer to start the high-minded Grantland.com, extending his brand beyond himself to bring in talented voices such as Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Wesley Morris. Simmons is the rare person in the sports media with revenue power on multiple platforms -- his podcasts get significant traffic, he's a major player in the "30 for 30" initiative, and this year he added a regular television presence with a position on ESPN's NBA Countdown show. Most importantly, Simmons has the ear of ESPN president John Skipper. He's No. 1 on this list by a wide margin.

The story of the game was unearned runs. The Rams gave up 5 unearned runs on 4 errors, while the Marauders gave up 2 unearned runs on 3 errors. Errors at third base continue to plague the Marauders.

The winning pitcher was Wolger (1-0, 4.74 ERA). Wolger has pitched in all three of the Marauders loses. He has left with a lead in each of the previous three losses that Jesuit was not able to hold.

The Jesuit Frosh baseball team now has 6 wins and 3 losses. The game log is here. If it does not get rained out, the Marauders play Vista Del Lago on Wednesday night.

I have a new toy: a radar gun. I will post more about this in the next week. I am going to be sampling opposing pitchers once each inning and entering the results in notes that show up at the bottom of the scorecard. A summary of the results from this game are:

Sunday, March 17, 2013

We celebrated St. Patrick's day with a dinner of corn beef and cabbage at Tom and Becky's. We had a small group for dinner that included Tommy, Becky, Jim, Sharon, Jack and I. We finished the evening with Jack and I losing bocce ball to Jim and me losing two games of chess to Jack...

Saturday, March 16, 2013

The Jesuit Frosh Marauders played a doubleheaders against the De La Salle Scorpions. De La Salle is from Concord. Talking to one of the De La Salle parents before the first game, he said that they had 70 boys go out for freshman baseball. They ended up drafting two teams of about 13. The Marauders played the Silver team. The parent also said he thought that this was the better team with more pitching.

Jack started the first game in centerfield and batted second.

At the plate, Jack was 1 for 3 with a single, a walk, reached on an error (3DK!), a stolen base and a run scored. In his first at-bat, Jack struck out swinging on a 0 and 2 pitch, but the catcher misplayed the ball. Hustling down the line, Jack was safe at first on the dropped third strike. Jack went to second when Nick was hit by a pitch and then scored on Jared's double to left center. Jack grounded a 2 and 1 pitch to the left side in his second plate appearance and was thrown out at first. In his third at-bat, Jack ran the count full and drew a walk. He stole second and was thrown out at home on Nick's single. As best I can figure out, the coach sent him. In a good at-bat, Jack fell behind 1 and 2, fouled off two pitches and then lined a single into right field in his fourth plate appearance. He got picked off first base.

Playing centerfield for seven innings, Jack did not have a put-out or an assist. He made one diving attempt on a play hit into short left center.

The Marauders scored four runs in the top of the first and never looked back. Iwasa (2-0/ERA 3.27) pitched five strong innings and got the win. The Marauders won the game by the score of 7 to 3. The box score is here and the scorecard is here.

After a short break, the boys turned around and played the second game. Jack started in left field and lead off.

At the plate, Jack was 1 for 2 with a single, a walk, a stolen base and a run scored. In his first at-bat, Jack walked on five pitches. He went to second when Jordan was hit by a pitch, to third when Nick walked and scored on Jared's double to right center. Jack popped a 0 and 1 pitch into right field for an out in his second plate appearance. In his third at-bat, Jack lined the first pitch into right field for a single. He stole second, but ended the inning there when Jordan struck out and Nick grounded out to short.

Playing left field for four innings, Jack did not have a put-out or an assist. One of the batters for De La Salle hit a home run just barely over the fence in left field. Jack said after the game that he thought that he could have reached up and got it with just a little better jump.

The Marauders scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning and won the game by the score of 15 to 3. Chiappe (2-0/ERA 2.69) was the winning pitcher. The box score is here and the scorecard is here.

The Jesuit Frosh baseball team now has 5 wins and 3 losses. The game log is here. The Marauders have a rematch against St. Mary's on Tuesday afternoon.

Friday, March 15, 2013

The Jesuit Marauders frosh baseball team played the Vacaville Bulldogs in their first road game of the season. The Vacaville team has a number of players that Jack has faced over the years on the Bulldog Baseball and the Dirty Dozen teams.

Jack started the game on the bench, but came into the game to lead off the top of the fifth. He stayed in the game and played four innings in centerfield.

At the plate, Jack was 1 for 2 with a single, a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored. In his first at-bat, he fell behind in the count 0 and 2, but ended up drawing a walk on six pitches. Jack stole second and went to third on a balk. He scored on Nick's ground out to shortstop. Jack lined a 2 and 1 pitch into centerfield for a single in his second plate appearance. He stole second and scored on Jared's soft fly ball to right. In his third at-bat, Jack struck out looking on a 2 and 2 pitch. He said after the game that he thought that the ball was going to break out.

In the field, Jack played four innings in centerfield. He had one put-out on a fly ball to left center. Jack made a diving attempt on fly ball in shallow right center. At least to my eye, he looks comfortable in the outfield.

Leading 5 to 1 in the top of the fifth, the Marauders gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth and then 2 more runs in the bottom of the sixth. After seven innings, the score was tied 6 to 6. The Bulldogs scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to win the game by the score of 7 to 6. The box score is here and the scorecard is here.

I think that the Marauders actually got enough pitching to win the game. Unfortunately, the outfield play was not sharp. In my opinion, the left fielder misplayed two balls in the six inning that ultimately cost Jesuit the game. I charged him with an error on one fly ball and debated back and forth charging an error on the fly ball that let the tying runs score. I respect that the coach is trying to get a number of players at-bats; there are a lot of catchers and infielders on the team. I am hopeful that Jack will stake a claim to left field and play there consistently.

The Jesuit Frosh baseball team now has 3 wins and 3 losses. The game log is here. The Marauders have a double header against De La Salle on Saturday.

Built by Reverend Thomas J. Dalton, the Sacred Heart Convent and Holy Angels Orphanage was dedicated May 2, 1865 by Bishop Eugene O'Connell. Under the Sisters of Mercy, it served from 1866 to 1932 as the first orphanage of the Northern Mines. It functioned as an academy from 1868 to 1965 and as a convent from 1866 to 1968.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

In addition to 30 for 30 Volume 2, 30 for 30 Shorts and SEC Storied, ESPN Films has announced a new film slate titled Nine for IX. This documentary series focuses on captivating stories of women in sports told through the lens of female filmmakers. The series is scheduled to premiere on July 2, 2013 on ESPN. The films will air on consecutive Tuesday evenings at 8pm ET.

Everyone knows about the swing. Everyone knows about the swagger. But what most Americans don’t know about Venus Williams is how she changed the course of her sport. In a stunning case that captured the attention of the European public beginning in 2005, Williams challenged the long-held practice of paying women tennis players less money than their male counterparts at the French Open and Wimbledon. With a deep sense of obligation to the legacy of Billie Jean King, Williams lobbied Parliament, UNESCO and Fleet Street for financial parity. Indeed, it was her poignant op-ed piece in The London Times that convinced many people that the tournament organizers at Wimbledon were “on the wrong side of history.” The boys clubs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon finally relented in 2007. In fact, it was at Wimbledon that year that Venus became the first women’s champion to earn as much as the men’s (Roger Federer). So to her seven major championships, another victory can be added.

On April 18, 2012, Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in the history of the NCAA basketball, did the unimaginable and announced her resignation from the University of Tennessee. On the very same day, her son Tyler was named assistant coach of the Marquette’s women’s basketball team, his first job out of college. While the sports world reeled from the news of Pat’s early on-set Alzheimer’s, the coach and her son quietly set out to beat this challenge just as they had every other – with grace, humor and most of all, each other. Pat XO tells the remarkable story of Pat Summitt as it’s never been told before. This raw, authentic portrait takes the camera from the filmmaker’s hands and places it into those who know her best. With Tyler as the lead storyteller, moving recollections are shared by assistant coaches, players like Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Michelle Marciniak, fellow coach Geno Auriemma, and such admirers as Peyton Manning and Kenny Chesney. The archival footage and statistical records woven into the film provide their own insights into a woman who cared about winning, but also about elevating her players and her university. If it’s possible to do justice to Pat Summitt, Pat XO does it.

Lisa Olson was just trying to do her job as a reporter for the Boston Herald in 1990 when a group of New England Patriot players sexually harassed her in their locker room by exposing their genitals and making lewd and vulgar comments. Even though a subsequent NFL investigation concluded that Olson had been “degraded and humiliated,” the 25-year-old continued to be tormented by Patriot fans—so much so that she temporarily moved to Australia to resume her career. In the meantime, the story touched off a national debate about the presence of female journalists in the male sanctum of the clubhouse. That debate should have been settled 12 years earlier, when Melissa Ludtke of Sports Illustrated successfully challenged Major League Baseball after she was kept out of the New York Yankees locker room. Why had equal access for women reporters remained such a hot-button issue? That question is asked in Let Them Wear Towels, a history and examination of females working in the man’s world of the locker room. Through interviews with such pioneer women as Ludtke, Claire Smith, Lesley Visser and Jane Gross, you’ll hear stories of raw behavior and humorous retaliation, angry lawsuits and remarkable resolve.

As a teenager, Audrey Mestre suffered from scoliosis, but in those formative years, she discovered a passion for the ocean. It offered her a sense of freedom, and the burdens she faced on dry land soon dissipated as she slipped below the surface. In the final stages of her PH.D., Mestre was drawn to Cabo San Lucas where she became infatuated with free-diver Pipin Ferreras, a Cuban defector whose dives had put him at the forefront of the sport. The two became a couple and Mestre followed the elusive, often raucous Pipin on his almost spiritual quest to push his limits underwater. Soon enough, Mestre moved from support team member to ardent free-diver and then to a world-class competitor who outshone her husband. In 2002, after news arrived that a rival female diver named Tanya Streeter had successfully gone to a record-breaking 525 feet, Pipin began preparations for Mestre to make a 561-foot dive off the coast of the Canary Island. Having completed practice dives even deeper in the weeks leading up to the record attempt, Mestre was prepared. But because of a fateful decision before the dive, Mestre never resurfaced alive.

Sheryl Swoopes has famously been labeled as the female Michael Jordan. Actually, she’s far more interesting. On the court, she was nearly as dominant as Michael: a national championship with Texas Tech, three Olympic gold medals, three MVP awards and four consecutive championships with the Houston Comets of the WNBA, the league she helped start. She even had a Nike shoe named after her, the Air Swoopes. Off the court, she gave birth in the middle of her first WNBA championship season, divorced her high school sweetheart, and became the highest-profile athlete in her sport to declare she was gay. She has struggled with love, family, money and lack of recognition, but she has never lost her spirit. In this portrait, viewers will meet someone who’s not the everyday superstar, a woman who has defied a multitude of labels, including “old” – in August 2011, Swoopes, at 40, hit a buzzer-beater to end the Tulsa Shock’s 20-game losing streak.

6. The Diplomat by Jennifer Arnold and Senain Kheshgi - August 6, 2013

At the height of the Cold War, Katarina Witt became one of East Germany’s most famous athletes. Trained in an ice rink that gave rise to socialist heroes, Witt dominated her field by winning six European skating titles, five world championships and back-to-back Olympic gold medals to become arguably the world’s best figure skater. Known as “the most beautiful face of socialism” her success gave her a unique status in East Germany. It also triggered constant surveillance by the Stasi, East Germany’s notorious secret police force. This film chronicles how Witt, one of the greatest skaters of all time, fought for her future in socialist East Germany, how she faced the great changes that occurred after the fall of The Berlin Wall and, ultimately, how she ended up both a beneficiary and victim of the East German regime.

Mary Decker obliterated opponents and records with blazing speed and a starving hunger to win. She dominated her sport, holding U.S. records in every distance from 800 to 10,000 meters, and she did it all without the Olympics. She was too young in ’72, hurt in ’76 and shut out by the U.S. boycott in ’80. As Sports Illustrated’s cover “Sportswoman of the Year” in 1983, she was ready: 1984 was the target, with the Olympics in Los Angeles and her skills at their 25 year-old peak. But the story leads to a single shocking moment in the 1984 Games, with Mary writhing on the ground in physical pain and emotional heartbreak, with the whole world watching.

8. The ‘99ers by Erin Leyden and Produced by Julie Foudy - August 20, 2013

The world of women’s sports was kicked upside down on July 10, 1999. Before a sold-out crowd of more than 90,000 at the Rose Bowl and an estimated 40 million Americans watching on television, the women’s soccer team reached a cultural and athletic pinnacle with its penalty-kick shoot-out victory over China to win the Women’s World Cup. These players were more than the ponytailed poster girls celebrated by mainstream media. As told through the voice of longtime team captain, Julie Foudy, viewers get an inside look at the strong team ethic and rare “do for each other” mentality that propelled them to victory that day and turned the team into a cultural touchstone. With unprecedented access, the film uses candid, behind-the-scenes footage shot by the players themselves during the tournament to present a unique portrait of the women who irrevocably changed the face of women’s athletics. Reuniting key players from the 1999 squad and talking with current U.S. players as well, the film examines how women’s soccer – and women’s sports as a whole – has changed since that epic day at the Rose Bowl.

Anna Kournikova was never the greatest tennis player in the world. In fact, she never rose higher than No. 8 on the WTA world singles rankings. But her looks and willingness to capitalize on them made her the most famous tennis player on the planet and ultimately, a pioneer for fellow women athletes who understand that sometimes, sex sells. Sports is supposed to be the ultimate level playing field, but in the media and on Madison Avenue sometimes looks matter more than accomplishments. This film explores the double standard placed on women athletes to be the best players on the field and the sexiest off them. Branded explores the question: can women’s sports ever gain an equal footing with their male counterparts or will sex always override achievement?

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Over the next ten days, the Jesuit Marauders Frosh baseball team has six games. In their first weeknight game of the season, the Marauders played the St. Mary's Rams. St. Mary's is in Stockton.

For the second game in the a row, Jack started in left field. Rather than batting second, he was the lead off batter. Talking in the car after the game, neither Jack or I could remember a game in the hundreds of baseball games that he has played where he batted lead off.

At the plate, Jack was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored and reached safely on an error. In his first at-bat, Jack hit a 3 and 2 pitch for a fly ball right at the center fielder for an out. Jack hit a 1 and 2 pitch for a grounder to the right side in his second plate appearance. The second baseman fielded the ball awkwardly and then stumbled. With Jack flying up the line, the second baseman never made a throw and Jack was safe at first on the error. Jack scored the first run of the game on Bailey's triple to right center. Jack came to bat with runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the fourth. With the game tied at 2, Jack lined a 3 and 1 pitch into left center for a single. Jordan scored from second for the RBI. Jack went to second on a passed ball and then scored on Bailey's single to left center. In his fourth at-bat in the bottom of fifth, the bases were loaded with two outs. Jack grounded a 3 and 1 pitch up the middle for a single. Kevin scored from third and Sam scored from second for two more RBIs. Jack went to second on the throw to the plate, but ended the inning there when Bailey flew out to centerfield.

In the field, Jack played seven innings in left field. He had two put-outs on fly balls. Jack also did a nice job running down a triple that was crushed down the third base line and rolled all the way to the trees on American River Drive. I am frankly surprised how comfortable he looks in the outfield. Jack and I were talking in the car on Monday night. He was saying that he thought that one of the strongest outfield combinations would be him in left, Sam in center and Bailey in right; this is the line-up they used on Tuesday night.

Needing a strong pitching performance, the Marauders got one. Behind a 76 pitch complete game by Chiappe, the Marauders beat the Rams by the score of 10 to 3. The box score is here and the scorecard is here.

I am not sure that anyone saw Chiappe's performance coming. He had only pitched one inning in the scrimmage against Davis on February 23. Jack said that he had not pitched that well in their inter-squad games. Nevertheless, it was just what the team needed.

The Jesuit Frosh baseball team now has 3 wins and 2 losses. The game log is here. The next game is their first away game Friday night against Vacaville.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

I watched ESPN Films SEC Storied Miracle 3. In addition to 30 for 30 Volume 2, the 30 for 30 Shorts and Nine for IX, ESPN Films is running a series of films about the Southeastern Conference. There are about five other films in this series that I have not seen yet; I have not built an episode guide for these films.

Miracle 3 tells the story of the 2008 SEC Championship Basketball tournament. As the first quarterfinal went into overtime on Friday, March 14th, a tornado hit the Georgia Dome. It was the first tornado to hit the city since the 1880's and one of the few reported tornados to hit a major metropolitan area.

Alabama's Mykal Riley's buzzer beater shot to force the overtime probably saved thousands of lives. If Riley had not sunk the 3-point shot, thousands of fan leaving the Alabama/Mississippi State game would have literally walked right into a tornado with winds estimated at 135 MPH.

The film focuses on what happened as the storm raged outside and then the monumental task of having to finish the tournament with four games in 30 hours.

Miracle 3 is not as good as most of the other ESPN Films, but it is an interesting story. I actually got sucked in and enjoyed the film more as it progressed. I actually don't remember hearing about the story at the time it happened.

Saturday, March 09, 2013

The Jesuit Marauders played the Valley Christian Warriors in a home doubleheader. Like Archbishop Mitty last week, the Warriors are from San Jose.

In the first game of the doubleheader, Jack started in left field and batted second. He had a solid day. Jack claims that he is the second fastest kid on the team, behind only Nile.

At the plate, Jack was 1 for 3 with two runs scored, a single, a walk and a fielder's choice. In his first at-bat, he ran the count full and walked. He went to second on Nick's walk, to third on Jared's single and scored on Ryan's walk. With Sogard on first, Jack grounded a 0 and 2 pitched to the right side in his second plate appearance. Sogard was forced out at second and Jack was safe at first on fielder's choice. Iwasa hit a hard line drive off the pitcher. With no one covering third, Jack raced from first to third. He scored on Jared's triple. In his third at-bat, Jack popped the first pitch up down the first base line. The wind blew it back into play and the first baseman caught it in foul territory for an out. Jack lined a 2 and 1 pitch into right field in his fourth plate appearance for a single. He was forced out at second on Jared's ground ball to the third baseman.

In the field, Jack played seven innings in left field. He had two put-outs; Jack handled two fly balls to left. He also did a nice job tracking down a grounder that bounced off third base. In the sixth inning, a ball was crushed almost to the street in left center. Jack said after the game that he thought that he could have gotten to it if the wind had not been blowing out. He was able to hold the batter to a double.

Leading 5 to 0 after four innings, the Marauders pitching let the Warriors back into the game. More on this in a second... The Warriors tied the game at 8 in the top of seventh. The Marauders scored in the bottom of the seventh to win the game by the score of 9 to 8. The scorecard is here and the box score is here.

Jack didn't play in the second game. The Marauders have 19 boys on the roster and the coach is doing a good job of trying to get everyone some at-bats.

The Marauders ran out to a 13 to 4 lead in the second game. Unfortunately, the adventures in pitching continued. The Warriors scored 5 runs in the top of the seventh. With runners on first and third, the Marauders finally got the third out and won the game by the score of 13 to 9. The first two outs in the bottom of the seventh were caught stealing! The scorecard is here.

The Jesuit Marauders 2013 frosh baseball team now has a record of 2 wins and 2 losses. The game log is here.

As I said last week, I really thought that pitching was going to be a strength of this team. During the scrimmages, it looked like the Marauders were deep with pitching. This has not panned out so far. While the team has scored 9.5 runs per game in the first four games, they are giving up 9.25 runs per game. It is going to be a long season if the pitching does not settle down.

The Marauders next game is Tuesday afternoon at home against St. Mary's.

Lotta Crabtree was born in New York in 1847. In 1852-3 the gold fever brought her family to California. Several months after arriving in San Francisco, Mrs. Crabtree and Lotta went to Grass Valley and with Mr. Crabtree started a boarding house for miners. It was here that Lotta met Lola Montez, who taught her to sing and dance. In Scales, Plumas County, Lotta made her first public appearance, which led to a successful career on stage here and abroad.

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Sharon and I finished watching season four of Mad Men on the AppleTv. Season four takes place between November 1964 and October 1965. It picks up roughly a year after the end of season three.

The season is set at the new and considerably more modern advertising agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The main arc of the fourth season is driven by Don Draper's identity crisis. He is regularly meeting with prostitutes and drinking more heavily than ever. As the season progresses, Don losses his grip more and more. It is a dark season...

While the second season ended with the Cuban missile crisis and the third season's ended with the assassination of President Kennedy, the fourth season's ending revolves around Don's getting remarried.

Raised in poverty in Ohio, Garfield was a remarkable individual. A passionate abolitionist, Garfield was not only hailed a hero in the Civil War, but was a fierce champion of the rights of freed slaves. At the same time, he was a supremely gifted scholar who had become a university president at just 26 years of age, and, while in Congress, wrote an original proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. The Republicans ended up choosing him as their candidate in 1880 primarily because they couldn't agree between former President Grant, James G. Blaine, and John Sherman. The delegates chose Garfield as a compromise choice.

In addition to providing an overview of Garfield, the book weaves in two other plots. First, Alexander Graham Bell plays a prominent part in the story. The book outlines his invention of the telephone. Bell's efforts to build an induction balance, a type of metal detector, to locate the bullet lodged in the President’s body play a major role in the last third of the book.

Second, the idea of antiseptic surgery is explored. At the time, American physicians were skeptical of the idea of the need for antiseptic procedures. As a result, their efforts to treat Garfield caused more problems than they solved. Garfield would likely have survived the shooting ten years later.

One of the odd coincidences highlighted in the book is that Robert Todd Lincoln was present when Garfield was shot. He was also at his father's death bed and standing with President McKinley when he was shot. Robert Todd Lincoln has the dubious distinction of being the only man to be present at three of the nation's four presidential assassinations.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it. Like The President and the Assassin, the book looks at the President in the context of the what else is going on in the country. I give the book a strong B+.

Sunday, March 03, 2013

On Day 50, I rode 26.8 miles across Wyoming. Starting in Glenrock near the Deer Creek Pony Express Station [42° 51' 48.01", -105° 52' 14.46"] on North 3rd Street, I followed Highway 20 to Interstate 25. Traveling 20 miles along Interstate 25, I exited on the Old Yellowstone Highway at Douglas. I finished the ride at the corner of Old Yellowstone Highway and North 4th Street in Douglas.

Saturday, March 02, 2013

I said after last week's scrimmages against Rocklin and Davis that the Jesuit Frosh baseball team was stacked. This dynamic changed more than little during the last week. The coaches moved their best pitcher (Cosca) up to JV to replace a JV pitcher that was moved to varsity. This loss has a cascading impact that weakens the team. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next couple of months. While I think that it is bad for team, it is probably good for Jack; moving Cosca to JV removes a bat as Jack is fighting for playing time.

The Marauders played their first two games of the season--a double header--against Archbishop Mitty. Mitty is from San Jose.

In the first game, Jack was 1 for 2 with a single and an RBI in the first game. In the bottom of the fifth, Jared led off with a triple. Jack drove a 0 and 1 pitch up the middle for a single and a RBI. Unfortunately, the next batter, Bailey, grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to erase Jack. In his second at-bat, Jack popped a 2 and 1 pitch up to the shortstop for an out to lead off the seventh inning.

In the field, Jack played three innings in left field. He had no put-outs or assists. One line drive was hit to the left side that he fielded cleanly and threw back in. On the way to the game, Jack talked about how much of an adventure the freshman outfield is...

Giving up 8 runs in the top of the fourth inning on three walks, two hit batters and an error, the Marauders ended up losing the game by the score of 8 to 5. The box score is here.

After a short break to feed the boys, Jesuit turned around and played Archbishop Mitty again.

Jack was 0 for 1 with a strike-out. With Jesuit trailing by the score of 12 to 11 in the bottom of the eighth, Jack came into to pitch hit. It was a nasty situation. He had been sitting for three plus hours. With Christian on second and two outs, Jack struck out on a 1 and 2 pitch to end the game.

Jack did not play in the field in the second game.

The Marauders used four pitchers in the second game; Mitty actually used five. With some adventures in pitching, Jesuit lost the game by the score of 12 to 11 in eight innings. The box score is here.

The Jesuit Marauders freshman baseball team now has 0 wins and 2 losses for the season. The game log is here. The season to date team statistics are here.

I honestly thought that pitching was going to be one of the Marauders strong points. It will be interesting to see where the pitching is in a month. Third base is also going to be interesting. Two third baseman made five errors in the two games. The starting third baseman made four errors, but he went 5 for 8 at the plate with two doubles and a triple.